Abstract
While classical views of cerebellar learning have suggested that this structure predominantly operates according to an error-based supervised learning rule to refine movements, emerging evidence suggests that the cerebellum may also harness a wider range of learning rules to contribute to a variety of behaviors, including cognitive processes. Together, such evidence points to a broad role for cerebellar circuits in generating and testing predictions about movement, reward, and other non-motor operations. However, this expanded view of cerebellar processing also raises many new questions about how such apparent diversity of function arises from a structure with striking homogeneity. Hence, this review will highlight both current evidence for predictive cerebellar circuit function that extends beyond the classical view of error-driven supervised learning, as well as open questions that must be addressed to unify our understanding cerebellar circuit function.
Highlights
While classical views of cerebellar learning have suggested that this structure predominantly operates according to an error-based supervised learning rule to refine movements, emerging evidence suggests that the cerebellum may harness a wider range of learning rules to contribute to a variety of behaviors, including cognitive processes
At the level of computation, it would initially seem that the cerebellum is tasked with solving multiple problems, as it clearly contributes to both motor control and diverse cognitive processes
To determine what computation(s) the cerebellum mediates, and whether they are behavior-specific, it will be necessary to measure 1) exactly what signals the cerebellum sends to different brain regions, and 2) how these signals combine with other inputs to modulate local processing
Summary
While classical views of cerebellar learning have suggested that this structure predominantly operates according to an error-based supervised learning rule to refine movements, emerging evidence suggests that the cerebellum may harness a wider range of learning rules to contribute to a variety of behaviors, including cognitive processes. It remains plausible that learned CF responses to conditioned stimuli can allow further modification of movement by other means, for example by directly modulating the activity of CbN neurons (Ten Brinke et al, 2019; Ten Brinke et al, 2017), or may serve a different purpose altogether by enabling cerebellar output to downstream brain regions.
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